History of Formation of Religious Science

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International Journal on Integrated Education

History of Formation of Religious Science Dilafruz Mahmudjanovna Turdieva Senior teacher, Department of UNESCO, Religious studies and Comparative Study of World Religions, International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan dilyadiamond@gmail.com Abstract: Because of independence, our country has had an opportunity to look at and state the attitude on religion in a new way. As a result, the science of theology, which is relatively new to us, emerged. This science aims not to criticize or remove religion from society, but to study it objectively, looking at religion as part of the national spirituality. The science of religion was formed and developed in close connection with the social sciences and humanities, and this process is still going on. Accordingly, in the place where the science of religion is intertwined with these sciences, its various branches have emerged. The current article gives various definitions of the term religion, the formation of theology as a science, and the scholars who have made a worthy contribution to it.

Keywords: religion, theology, comparative theology, Abu Rayhan Beruni, west, transcendent, immanent, Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The last three years have been rich in great changes and developments in the life of our country.

With the initiative of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a large-scale work is being carried out to restore and develop our religious values. Along with other areas, great attention is paid to scientific, creative and religious education. In particular, the historic Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated April 16, 2018 "On measures to radically improve the activities of the religious and educational sphere" opened the door to many opportunities.

In the new era of our development, religious and national values are developing, special attention is paid to the deep study and analysis of the religious and enlightenment heritage of our ancestors, the worthy continuation of their scientific traditions.

In the context of multi-confessionalism in our country, to ensure harmony among people of different nationalities, ethnicities and religions, to make a worthy contribution to strengthening peace and stability in the world is the sacred duty of every citizen, especially the highly educated intelligentsia. As noted by the President of the Republic Sh. Mirziyoyev, "We consider the strengthening of solidarity and civil harmony between religious denominations in our society to be our most urgent and noble task." [1] Although the essence of religion is interpreted differently, it is based on a sense of trust and belief. Indeed, religion is a sense of belief. The sense of belief is one of the deepest and most spiritual needs of mankind.

It is well known that religion is an Arabic word. However, in order to fully understand the concept of religion, it is expedient to study and analyze both its lexical and terminological meanings separately.

According to Arabic sources, the word religion is derived from the verb “‫“( ”دان‬daana”), which means “to submit to someone, to bow down, to obey, to be indebted to someone, to believe, to reward according to one's deeds”; The word "diynun" means "religion, faith, reward, reward for work done."

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In the Uzbek dictionary, "religion" means trust, belief, to believe, property, judgment, account, punishment, action, obedience, to obey, worship, diet, behavior, habit, faith.

It is known that before Islam, the Turkic peoples used words such as "drm", "darm", "nom" and "den" to express the concept of religion at different times. Among them “drm”, “darm” are derived from the word “dharma” (dhamma in Pali) in Sanskrit (ancient Indian) in the sense of religion and aqeedah; It is said that the name "religion" came from the Sogdian language in the sense of faith, law.

Terms meaning "religion" in Uzbek are available in all languages. For example, in the source of the Zoroastrians, in the Avesto the word "daena" is used as "religion", in the ancient Persian Pahlavi language the words "den", "religion", "dena", "daena" are used meaning “road”, “sect”, “ceremony”, “style”, “way”. The word „dath‟ used in the Hebrew language is a general term used to describe the concept of „religion‟, meaning „judgment‟, „command‟ and „law‟.

There are a number of approaches in dictionaries to the origin of the word „religion‟, which means religion in Russian. According to some of them, the term is derived from the Latin word "religio", which means "religiosity, piousness, piety, godly devotion, reverence, a sacred thing or place, a shrine, a place of worship, to worship and related religious ceremonies" [4].

The second group of linguists argues that the word „religio‟ is semantically and morphologically related to the word „relegere‟, meaning „to re-collect, to re-select, to return to a previous synthesis for processing‟.

Scholars argue that a particular belief must have three main characteristics in order to be called a religion. The first of these is the existence of the notion of a supernatural deity (or gods). In every religion, the object of worship is God. The notions of God in existing religions can be conditionally divided into two - transcendental and immanent gods. Transcendental deities include gods outside the human world, who have nothing to do with humans, and who are free from defects and imperfections. Examples of this are Allah in Islam and God the Father in Christianity and Yahweh in Judaism.

Immanent gods, on the other hand, include gods who are imagined as part of nature, who resemble human beings, but who have supernatural creative, destructive, and nourishing powers.

These types of deities are often thought of as either anthropomorphic (in human form) or zooanthropomorphic (half human half animal) or zoomorphic (animal). Examples of this are the religions of ancient Egypt, Greece, Roman civilization, modern India, China, Japan.

The second is a cult or set of cults that binds people together with God. As mentioned above, the object of worship in every religion should be God. The set of prayers and rituals (sacrifice, fasting, feasts) that bind man to the Creator is called a cult. Cults can be in the form of daily or seasonal, individual or collective. For example, in Islam, "Prayer is the believer's ascension" (ie, ascension to the presence of God), it is considered that the Holy Spirit himself participates in the "mystical rites" in Christianity. Thus, in all existing religions, through cults, believers are associated with their gods.

The third is the existence of religious organizations that bring together believers. A religious organization is an institution where the followers of a religion collectively conduct their religious rites, prayers, and receive religious education. This means that in Islam - a mosque, a madrasa, in Christianity - a church, a seminary, in Judaism - a synagogue, and so on.

The study of the history of religions, the processes associated with them, the interaction of religion with various aspects of human life is called "Theology".

"Religion", like all social sciences, has its object of study. It scientifically studies the emergence and development of religious beliefs, their evolution in the development of society, along with the study of the emergence, social significance and role of religion in society.

The study of religions has a long history. Everyone is interested in the beliefs of those around Copyright (c) 2022 Author (s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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them, what religion they belong to, and wants to know about them. The first information about this can be found in the works of ancient Greek and Roman writers. Herodotus (fifth century BC), best known as the "father of history", gave information about the religions of the nations that he studied. This interest also existed in medieval Europe. But commentators on other religions have found it acceptable to approach them by expressing a negative view of those religions, in order to avoid attracting the attention of Christians and preventing them from entering those religions.

In the Islamic world, too, research on religions has a long history. As early as the first century of hijriy (seventh to eighth centuries AD), "articles" (later "articles") containing religious debates began to be written, and from the second century (eighth to ninth centuries AD) "denials" began to be written about other religions. In the following centuries, al-Firaq (sects), ar-Radd (Raddiya), ad-Diyanot (Religions) and al-Milal (Peoples) literature appeared.

The first work written in the direction of "Ad-Diyanat" (Religions) is the book "al-Araw wadDiyanat" (Beliefs and Religions) by Hasan ibn Musa al-Naubakhti (Hijriy 298 / 910 AD.). Later, Mas'udi (Hij. 346) wrote his books al-Diyanat (Religions), Masbihi (Hij. 420), “Darkul Bug'yati fiy vasfid diyanoti val ibadati” (The norm of purpose in the description of religions and beliefs).

Beruni's (973-1048) book, “Tahqiqun ma lilhind min maqulatin, maqbulatin fil-aqli av marzulatin”, is one of them.

The books written in the direction of Al-Firaq (Sects) include Abu Mansur Abdulqadir alBaghdadi's (Hij. 429 / 1038 AD) “Al-Farq baynal-firaq” (difference between sects) and AbulMaali Muhammad ibn Ubaydullah's ( Hij. 485 / 1092 AD) “Baynal-adyon” (between religions) can be included.

In the direction of Al-Milal the books of Qazi Abu Bakr al-Baqqilani‟s (Hij. 403 / 1012 AD) “Al-Milal van-Nihal” (Religions and Nations), Abu Muhammad Ali Ibn Hazm‟s (Hij. 456 / 1064 AD). ) “Kitabul-fasl fil-Milal val-ahwai van-Nihal” (a separate book on religions, weather and nations), Abul-Fath Muhammad ibn Abdulkarim al-Shahristani‟s (Hij. 548 / 1183 AD) “Al-Milal van Nihal” can be counted.

Many works have also been published in the direction of Ar-Radd (Raddiya). Ar-Raddul Jamil (Beautiful Raddiya) by Imam al-Ghazali (Hij. 505 / 1111 AD), Ibn Kalbi (Hij. 204-206 / 819821 AD) and Kitab al-Asnam (Book of Idols) ) should be noted [6].

Significant work has also been done in the field of comparative theology in the Islamic world.

Among them are Abu Rayhan al-Biruni‟s (Hij. 440 AH / 1048 AD), “Al-Asar al-Baqiya” (Eternal Works), Ibn Nadim‟s (Hij. 380 AH, 990 Ad), “Al-Fihrist” (Contents), and Muhammad ibn al-Huzayl‟s (Hij. 226 / 840 AD) “Kitabul-Majus and kitabus-Sanaviya” (book of paganism and polytheism), Abul-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad as-Sarakhsi‟s (Hij. 286 / 899 AD). ) “Risala fiy vasfi mazahibis-Sabiiyn” (treatise on the description of the sects of the Sabians), Abu Zayd al-Balhi‟s (Hij. 300 AH / 941 AD) “Kitabu sharo‟il adyan” (Book of Sharia of Religions).

Modern theology, on the other hand, dates back to a century and a half. In the West, Max Muller (1823-1900) initiated the study of religions in the modern sense. In 1856 he published "Comparative Mythology" and in 1870 "Lessons on the Foundations and Formation of Religions", which led to the study of other religions and gained great attention. He lectured on the history of religions at the famous Oxford University in England. He first used the word "religious studies" in his "Translation Series of the Holy Books of the East." Muller and his contemporaries considered philology to be important in the scientific study of religions, and advanced the idea that the true nature of religion could only be achieved through research conducted through language.

In the more recent periods in the Netherlands, S.R.Tile and Shantepi de la Sosse have been consistent in this regard. Thus, over time, in centers such as Paris, Brussels, and Rome, theology became part of university curricula.

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Since the second half of the 19th century, research in the field of religion has been formed.

During this period, a number of experts in the field mentioned in different regions were trained.

Among them are R.Pettazoni, M.Eliade, Van der Lew, R.Otto, G.Menshing, J.Vax, F.Heiler, G.Dumezil, E.G.Parrinder, S.G.F.Brandon, Eric F. Sharp, Ninian Smart, M. Kitagawa, R.S. Zeichner, Hugo Bienchi, W. Cantwell Smith, Ake W. Strom, Hans J. Shoips, and Michael Paylar can be mentioned [6].

In conclusion, religion and man are inextricably linked and inseparable. The study of the history of the emergence and formation of religions, customs and traditions, their comparative analysis has been one of the most pressing issues in all times, and it has not lost its relevance. The researches that are being done today is a clear proof of this.

List of used literature: 1. Address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Oliy Majlis. December 22, 2017 // www.uza.uz.

2. Men A. The history of history. - M.: 1994.

3. Peter Anters. Current religions. History and faith. –M.: Progress-Tradition, 2001.

4. Radugin A.A. Introduction to religious studies: theory, history and modern religions. - M.: 1996.

5. Yablokov I.N. Basic religious studies. - M. 1998.

6. Fundamentals of religion. Study guide. Tashkent: Tashkent Islamic University Publishing and Printing Association, 2013.

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